James Ingram And Arsenio Hall Share Music And Memories On Michael Jackson

All week long, Pat & Kim are celebrating the life and legend of [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Michael Jackson[/lastfm] in honor of what would have been his 53rd birthday on August 29th. A few celebrities shared their heartfelt stories and memories of what the King of Pop meant to them.

Kicking off the music and memories week are [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]James Ingram[/lastfm], who shared his story of writing “Pretty Young Thing” for MJ, and Arsenio Hall’s surprise call from Michael after he resigned from his talk show.

Not many people are aware that James Ingram was the songwriter behind the smash hit “PYT (Pretty Young Thing),” but with the help of Quincy Jones, James’ reworked version was picked out of the bunch and given to Michael.

James recalls Michael singing it in the studio the first time saying, “He was dancing and singing and just killing it. He came out and he was sweating and he said, ‘James, you’re killing it, you go do what you’re doing.'”

Listen to James Ingram’s memories of Michael Jackson:

After sending in his resignation from his talk show, Arsenio Hall recalls the first phone call he got was from Michael Jackson who wanted to know why he was leaving his show.

Arsenio remembers, “He wanted to know why I left the show and he wanted to know if any of the rumors he was hearing were correct. Long story short, he just made me feel good about the work I’d done in late night and he made me feel important.”